1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a medical network system wherein various kinds of medical devices are connected to a network.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various kinds of image processing have been carried out on images recorded by various kinds of imaging modalities such as the ones for CT, MRI and CR so that the images become appropriate for diagnosis. Such image processing is usually carried out by medical application software incorporated in each medical device.
The version of such medical application software is sometimes updated in order to improve its function or for debugging. For general purpose equipment such as a workstation, such upgrading is carried out by installation of new software from a recording medium such as a floppy disc. For dedicated equipment in which software is recorded and incorporated in a ROM, the ROM is replaced. However, in the case of medical application on software, special knowledge and technique are needed to replace such software, and the replacement of the software might affect reliability and safetiness of the devices. Accordingly, the replacement work cannot be easily and freely carried out by users like general personal computer. Such a software replacing operation is usually carried out manually by a service person of the company producing the software.
Recently, medical network systems have been increasing. In a medical network system, imaging modalities such as a CT apparatus, a laser printer for outputting an image, a server computer for storing and managing the image (hereinafter called an image server), and a diagnosis terminal for diagnosing the image are connected to a network, and doctors and radiologists or staff for clinical examination can exchange an image for diagnosis as digital data to improve efficiency in hospital operations.
Furthermore, following the reduction in personal computer prices, each doctor is often assigned to a personal computer, and the number of items of equipment composing the network system is thus increasing.
As has been described in the above, manual replacement of software for a medical network system having a large number of components by a service person is a great burden on a software producer.
Therefore, realization of a medical network system wherein software replacement therefor is efficient has been desired.
The present invention reduces a load on a service for a medical network system by automating replacement of software components thereof.
In other words, the medical network system of the present invention connects on a network a plurality of medical devices each of which is loaded with at least one software component, and comprises:
component storing means which is connected to the network and stores and manages the latest version of each software component;
version comparing means for comparing, for each software component, the version of the software component installed in each medical device with that of the software component stored and managed by the component storing means;
component replacing means for replacing the software component installed in the medical device by transferring the latest version of the software component from the component storing means to the medical device when the version of the software component installed in the medical device is found to be older than that of the software component stored and managed by the component storing means as a result of comparison by the version comparing means; and
restart means for restarting the medical device at least one software component of which has been replaced by the component replacing means.
The medical network system in accordance with the present invention may further have restart means for restarting medical devices in which at least one software components is replaced by said component replacing means.
The xe2x80x9csoftware componentxe2x80x9d herein referred to means a program, a data file, or the like for realizing a variety of functions of the medical network system such as image processing and communication processing. One function is realized by one software component in some cases, or by a plurality of software components in other cases. Software replacement can be carried out for each software component.
The xe2x80x9cmedical devicesxe2x80x9d mean various kinds of devices composing the medical network system, such as imaging modalities, workstations for diagnosis, personal computers for image reference.
The xe2x80x9ccomponent storing meansxe2x80x9d means a database managing the latest versions of software or a computer loaded with such a database. The situation wherein the component storing means is xe2x80x9cconnected to the networkxe2x80x9d may mean the case where the component storing means is connected by a dial-up connection or the like (that is, the component storing means can be connected upon necessity).
The xe2x80x9cversion comparing meansxe2x80x9d, the xe2x80x9ccomponent replacing meansxe2x80x9d and the xe2x80x9crestart meansxe2x80x9d are groups of programs installed distributively in a computer managing the components as well as in each of the medical devices. The groups of programs have two types, that is, a type wherein each medical device is a client and the other type wherein the computer managing the components is a client. Further, in the case where the restart means is not provided, the part as to restart is omitted in the following description of the two forms.
In the form wherein each medical device is a client, each medical device accesses, on start-up, the computer storing the components and carries out the version comparison for each of the components. When the versions disagree, the latest version is downloaded and the medical device restarts. In this case, the computer managing the components has a function to notify the latest version to the medical device which has accessed to the computer and a server function which transfers the latest version of the component.
Meanwhile, in the form wherein the computer managing the components is a client, the computer obtains the version of each component at start-up by sequentially accessing each medical device, and compares the obtained version with the version stored therein. When the two do not agree, the latest version is transferred to the medical device and the medical device is requested to restart. In this case, each medical device has a function to notify the version of a component having been installed therein to the client and a function to restart upon request.
In each case, the timing of the version comparison is the time when each medical device or the computer managing the components starts up, or a pre-set time, or the time that an operator instructs, for example. The version comparison may be carried out regularly at a pre-set interval such as at every 24 hours.
xe2x80x9cStartxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9crestartxe2x80x9d means the start of a medical application program for realizing the medical network system. In other words, the xe2x80x9cstartxe2x80x9d time means not only the time when power is switched on but also the time an application program is started with power having been switched on. Likewise, xe2x80x9crestartxe2x80x9d means not only the case where power is switched on again but also the case where only an application program is restarted.
The medical network system of the present invention judges whether or not the software component installed in each medical device composing the system is the latest version at a predetermined timing, and replaces the software component automatically with the latest version if the software component is not the latest version. In this manner, unlike a conventional system, manual replacement of a software component for each medical device is not necessary, and the load on a software producer which provides the software component is greatly reduced.